


Introspection

by Hikari42



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, High School AU, Melodrama, Silver is hammy as hell and i'm sorry, Sonic doesn't like high school, Tails just wants to make it out, he's bored and wants to Run
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-11-16 04:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11246160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikari42/pseuds/Hikari42
Summary: Sonic was just an average fifteen year old dealing with school, bullies, homework, and the subject of his own death. No big deal. /A serious look at the high school AU/ (Originally on FFN, now cross-posted to ao3!)





	1. Start! The Morning of Another Day in Paradise!

They moved through the night, nothing but darkness against the pitch black landscape. Warm air ghosted out of their mouths, puffs of white in the chilled countryside of Holoska, and they took care to travel only on the well-worn path to mask their footprints. The silence of the crisp air only served to amplify the crunching of the snow beneath their feet, but they moved lightly, making barely a sound.

The building ahead was gray and square, security lights washing the area in red. Robots patrolled at steady intervals, staring blankly into the dark world for intruders, and there was a crackle of broken, unused intercoms that increased in volume as they approached. To any passerby, the small base was probably nothing more than a blip, a gray smudge in the middle of the harsh arctic tundra, but it was far more deceiving than anyone could anticipate.

They slipped through a hole in the patrol, timing it so the rapidly falling snow would fill in their footprints long before the robots would come across them, and easily scaled onto the roof. Solar panels, useless now in the eternal darkness of winter, littered the space, gleaming in the moonlight, and they dodged around in their shadows, staying well out of the sights of the flying patrols that crossed above every now and then.

Eventually, they made it the middle of the roof, where two windows allowed sunlight to stream in during the spring and summer. One of the dark figures bent down and tapped the glass, listening with large ears, and nodded before reaching into a utility belt and extracting a small explosive. The bomb was tiny, no bigger than a finger, but the compressive force would be just enough to rattle the frame of the window and allow them to pry it free.

A small burst of light was the only sign of the explosion and they made quick work of the window. Gray yawned in front of them when they looked down, the floor a good twenty feet below. They shared a look before the shorter of the two simply shrugged and vaulted over the pane, disappearing into the building with only the whistling wind and gravity to greet him. He landed with a small sound before glancing back and waving at his partner, who glanced back once before sliding into the room and gliding down as well. As one, they turned to the only door, rusty and weather-torn, and made for it.

What greeted them on the other side would haunt them for the rest of their days. Wires snaked this way and that, feeding into a large central machine that blinked and whirred with artificial life. The taller intruder snaked forward, darting between energy pods and computer consoles to reach the central terminal. However, something caught her eye and she froze, turning large blue eyes toward her partner.

"I found them."

o0o

_He was running, the wind on his heels and sound a thing of the past. Ahead of him, a barricade of robots stood at the ready, plasma blasters leveled with his forehead, and he smirked before pushing forward again. The wind splintered around him, licking eagerly at his heels, and he plowed through the robots, sending them flying into each other. Behind him, they exploded in huge starbursts of orange and yellow light._

_Further up his path, a huge mecha loomed, large and intimidating. Painted in loud shades of red, yellow, and white, it turned toward him with swooping movements. At its hands, a bright light flared, a plasma canon readying to fire._

_His smirk grew and he poured on even more speed, snaking his way towards the feet._

" _Oho, Sonic! You won't be able to stop me this time! You're no match for my mech's secret weapon! Good luck, Sonny-boy!_

_Wait, Sonny-boy? Since when—_

"Sonny! Wake up! You're gonna be late for school!"

Sonic Hedgehog stirred, surfacing from the depths of sleep just enough to hear his uncle's footsteps on the stairs, and the dream evaporated, escaping into rapidly sharpening world. Distantly, he knew that he should start moving for fear of Chuck's wrath, but he was far too tired to struggle free of his blanket's firm embrace. He could feel his eyelids trying to pull open, but the lull of sleep was too strong, and he gave up after a few moments, opting to snuggle deeper into his pillow.

The light snapped on seconds later, and he groaned, rolling over to hide his face in the soft fabric of his pillowcase. "Up," Uncle Chuck demanded, voice formidable. Sonic groaned again for his own benefit. "Sonic, get up." He could hear Chuck as he moved toward the window, no doubt to yank open the curtains, and Sonic cringed into the pillow. The artificial light in his room was minimal, extending to a lamp and a single dull bulb in the ceiling fan, but the sun was too much this early.

"I'm up," he moaned to delay his exposure to the bright, outside light. Pushing himself away from the soft confines of his mattress, he sat up. "Don't touch those curtains," he commanded, sleepy green eyes narrowed at his uncle's harrowing position near the window.

"I see." Chuck's voice was clipped and crisp, and he raised an appraising eyebrow in Sonic's direction. There were a few beats of silence wherein neither party moved and the older hedgehog's other eyebrow rose to join its twin. "Are you gonna move or is this as far as you're gonna get?"

"Give me a minute," Sonic groused, blinking away the urge to close his eyes. "You ruined my dream," he complained, hoping to stall the coming day for a few more seconds.

"Which one was it this time?" Chuck was obviously humoring him. "Amy or Blaze?" Seeing Sonic's scandalized look, he added, "or was it that dream where you won the chili dog eating contest?"

Sonic's ears twitched and his face contorted into a perfect expression of revulsion. "First of all, ew – Amy's twelve. Second, Blaze is one of my best friends and Silver would kill me. Third, you wouldn't be able to wake me if it were that dream."

Chuck hummed, watching as Sonic finally pushed himself to his feet. He wobbled for a few seconds before starting forward, purposely skirting around his uncle to fumble around in his closet. His school uniform was a pile of fabric in the corner and he picked it up with a disgusted face. "Y'know," he began, turning back to Chuck, "I'm not really feeling school today. How about I run errands for you instead?"

"No way Sonny," his uncle answered without missing a beat, "if I let you skip every time you didn't feel like going, you'd be a high school dropout and I'd have a permanent errand boy."

"Win-win," Sonic remarked distractedly as he shook his uniform out. Chuck sighed with the air of someone who had had this conversation far too many times and Sonic decided to cut his losses for the day. When his caretaker started making sounds like that, he was a few steps away from extra chores. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Charles Hedgehog was never one to roll his eyes, but Sonic could tell that he came very close in that moment. "Yeah, fine. I'll leave you to your unnecessary prepping. You have twenty minutes."

Sonic tossed an eye roll of his own over his shoulder, "love ya too, Unc." After Chuck had closed the door, the blue hedgehog turned back to his room and took a few deep breaths to steady himself before turning back to his uniform, cursing everything it stood for. He had never been one for school; too fidgety, too distractible, didn't play well with others, the list went on. He had always felt like school was a waste of time once he learned to read and write, and his grades have reflected that since then. Most of the time, he couldn't be bothered to do his homework, much less pay attention in class. It was only by the good graces of his teachers and extra tutoring from his friends that he managed to pass, and even then it was a close thing. He had planned for a while to drop out once he hit sixteen; he wanted to travel the world, see everything there was to be seen, not read about it in a book. The only thing keeping him from taking off now was Uncle Chuck. The man had taken care of Sonic for as long as he could remember, and he owed him enough for two lifetimes. He had promised him that he would finish school up to the legal dropout age, prove to him that he wasn't a total screw up, and at fifteen years old, he was so close to his goal that he could practically taste it. _Only a few more months..._

He heard Chuck yell the time at him from downstairs and quickly focused back on the task at hand. With that thought cycling through his head like a mantra, he pulled on his uniform. The Bellwyn Academy for Mobians was one of the most prestigious schools in Station Square, and the only reason Sonic got in with his laughable grade point average and horrible attendance record was because Uncle Chuck was an ambassador between the mobian governments of the South and Westside Islands and the humans of the mainland, and he rubbed elbows with quite a few important people. However, the school had a hell of a time with Sonic, especially after he managed to make friends with the rowdiest group of mobians to ever walk its halls, and he knew the faculty was counting the days until he turned sixteen. They weren't alone.

Two hundred and fifty-nine to go.

With a sigh, Sonic turned to the mirror as he yanked his uniform jacket on. The uniforms were one of the things he would miss the least: a blue so bright they washed out his own coloring and tailored for people with less quills involved in their lives, they were an uncomfortable fit on nearly everyone, but especially on Sonic. It had taken quite a bit of ripping, sewing, and wiggling to force the jacket to accommodate the spines on his back, but he had managed. Now it was a daily struggle to work himself up to putting it on, and he always longed for the days of summer when he could forgo the whole thing. Clothing was dumb in any setting, especially for those with fur. Sure, it was fine for the humans – they didn't have thick fur to add friction to their precious cloth, and when you had quills it was adding insult to injury.

"Sonic! Ten minutes!"

"Yeah yeah," Sonic answered quietly, grabbing his backpack from where he had dropped it on the floor next to the door the night before. He hopped down the stairs two at a time, stomach gurgling unhappily as soon as his nose caught the smells wafting from the kitchen. He made a beeline for the toaster after dropping his bag off at the table, a pair of bright blue eyes blinking sleepily at him as he passed. A matching blue uniform, ruffled and unkempt, nearly overwhelmed the small, golden child it clothed, and a nearby blue backpack was stuffed with textbooks far too large for one so small. "Morning Tails," the hedgehog greeted as he slid the lever down and watched his bread disappear into the chamber of red light, "sleep well?"

"Nhg," Tails grumbled, head drooping dangerously low until he noticed the bowl of oatmeal that was ready to act as a landing pad. He jerked up and glared at it as if it had personally offended him, before sighing with the air of an aggrieved soul and grabbing blindly for the spoon resting next to the bowl. "You?"

"Same." Sonic's toast popped and he fished it out with nimble fingers, spreading butter in one smooth move. "Ready for school?"

Tails made another indeterminate sound and stared down at his lumpy breakfast like it was an interesting science project. Sonic chuckled. Tails always made his day better, even when there was a dark cloud hanging over everything. Sonic couldn't pinpoint when, but Tails had been adopted by Chuck at some point a few years ago, and they had taken to each other like long lost brothers. Despite the fact that the fox was seven years younger than him, he had a killer wit and a huge IQ, which made him easily Sonic's equal, despite his small size. They did nearly everything together, and Tails was the primary reason Sonic hadn't flunked out by now. The school had no idea what to do with Tails; he probably should be doing college work, in all honesty, but they didn't want to plunge someone so young into the world of adults just yet. So, they decided to saddle him with Sonic and drop him right into his sophomore class. It was just as well – they were both bored out of their minds most of the time in class – for different reasons, but Sonic chose to ignore that – and they kept each other occupied, which kept the distractions down to a minimum.

"Do your homework?" Sonic asked, nodding at the fox's stuffed backpack.

"Yup," Tails answered around a mouthful of oatmeal. "You?"

Sonic sighed, glancing at his own, pathetically beat up bag. "Nope. Can I copy?"

"No."

Sonic rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, cursing Tails' morals straight to Chaos himself. "Not even a little?"

"No."

The hedgehog chewed thoughtfully on his toast. "Will you help me during break?"

"Yup."

"Monosyllabic day, huh?"

"And they say you're not smart."

"Shut up nerd." Sonic winked at the small fox before shoving the rest of his breakfast in his mouth. "We should probably get out of here. Don't wanna be late."

"Nhg," Tails grunted again, shoveling his food into his mouth before scooting off his chair. He pulled his backpack off of the table and it landed on the floor with a formidable thunk; Tails stared at it sleepily, blinking slowly, as if he couldn't pinpoint how it had landed itself in its current position, and Sonic sighed before passing the kid his bag. The hedgehog hefted the large backpack onto his shoulder and bodily pointed Tails toward the door with a hand on his shoulder. Trudging forward slowly, Tails banged out the screen door and Sonic made a mental note to hide his video games so he would get some decent sleep.

"Bye kids!" Chuck's voice called from up the stairs. "Have a good day!"

"Bye!" Sonic yelled back, pulling the door closed behind him. He turned to follow Tails up the driveway, mentally calculating how long it would take them to get to the school with Tails moving at the speed of smell, and nearly ran into the fox. Tails was planted in the middle of the path, eyes narrowed at him, hands shoved onto thin hips, namesakes whipping behind him in agitation. "What?" Sonic asked after the impromptu staring match had lasted long enough to grow uncomfortable.

"Something's different."

Sonic snorted. "Don't be a spazz. We need to get going or we're gonna be late." The hedgehog put his hands on Tails' shoulders, spun him around, and marched him toward the sidewalk.

The fox dug his heels in, though it did no good against Sonic's stronger hold. "No wait, don't you feel it?"

"Feel what? C'mon bro, it's fall, the temperature changes every once in a while."

"No!" Silently, Sonic wondered where all this energy had come from. Last he had seen, Tails had been snoring into his oatmeal. "There's something in the air! C'mon man, don't flake on me. I know you feel that weird stuff sometimes."

Sonic stopped at that and blinked down at his adopted brother. Now that he mentioned it... Sonic shivered as something... _cold_ brushed its way up his spine and snaked its way around his middle. It settled over his chest, and he felt a small pinprick of unease as it pressed against him. Suddenly, his world jerked and the driveway in front of his house was replaced with a world of water, a city ravaged and sinking. Smoke clogged the air, he was soaked through to the bone and shivering, and screams filled his ears; he reached up to cover them, a thick stone of defeat settling in his stomach.

_This was his fault_. The thought came unbidden but he could feel the truth behind the words and he held back a whimper. _I wasn't fast enough... I couldn't save them._ _Station Square's gone because of me._

He wanted to sink into the water, disappear forever so the world would forget him and his mistake. But then, he felt a warmth rise up in his chest, battling away the chill. It spread through his belly and chest, wrapping around his whole being. Suddenly, there was a tug and he was back in front of Tails. He blinked away the moment, battling away the phantom sensation of depression that held on with all its might.

The fox was looking up at him expectantly, and Sonic realized that only a few seconds had passed and Tails was none the wiser to his bout of... what _was_ that anyway? "Deja vu, Tails. I get deja vu a lot," Sonic replied shakily. Maybe he was stressed. Stress could cause some weird things right?

Tails was staring at him calculatingly, and Sonic shook his head. Regardless, he didn't need to worry the fox with it. Not until he was sure he wasn't going insane, anyway. The hedgehog cracked a small smile, and prayed that Tails wouldn't see through him. The kit rolled his eyes but didn't move, so Sonic groaned. "We're gonna be late now, you know." He resumed his steering, grabbing onto the fox once again.

Tails crossed his arms stubbornly, glaring sullenly forward as Sonic pushed him up the sidewalk. "Yeah, fine, whatever. But when something happens, I warned you."

The hedgehog laughed. "Today's Tuesday, bud. Nothing interesting ever happens on Tuesday."


	2. Faker?! The Entrance of the Dark Stranger!

They missed the train across the city.

Sonic wasn't one for pointing fingers, but when Tails sent him an apologetic look as they jogged up to the platform and watched the train speed away, he couldn't help but cuff the kid lightly across the back of the skull.

"You're paying for the cab," he said gruffly as he turned on his heel to stalk out of the station. Waving a hand as soon as he emerged from the door, he watched with an uninterested expression as a small taxi pulled up, the driver taking in their school uniforms with a raised an eyebrow.

"Bellwyn?" he asked after Sonic had opened the door, ushered Tails in before him, slid into his own seat, and pulled the door shut with a bit too much force.

"Yeah." Sonic clicked his seatbelt into place and eyed Tails to make sure the fox followed suit before looking up and meeting the cabbie's eyes in the rearview mirror. "If you could hurry, that'd be great."

"You got it. Hold on tight, kids."

Sonic sighed as they pulled out, leaning back into the cracked vinyl of the seat. The swaying of the car soothed his fried nerves, and he probably would've dropped off into a light sleep if Tails hadn't been fidgeting next to him. The fox was perched on the edge bench seat, ramrod straight, fiddling nervously with his gloves.

"Would you chill?" The hedgehog closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. "I'm not mad."

"But if you're late again you're gonna be sent to the principal..."

"Doesn't matter kid. I'm just worried about you; I know you've never been late before."

That much was true. Tails was usually punctual and pushing Sonic out of the door in the morning. But, over the past two weeks or so he had taken to sleeping in, dawdling on the walks to the station, and waiting until the last possible moment to make his way to class, as if he was starting to dread school as much as the hedgehog. It was surreal, to see the small, eager child turn into the perfect image of a sullen teenager. Sonic couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong, but he couldn't, for the life of him, pinpoint what it could be. The two of them spent nearly every moment of the day together, and he would've noticed if anything had changed in the fox's routine.

Cracking his eyes open, he spied Tails glaring through the window, watching as the familiar scenery of their neighborhood blended into the unfamiliar sights of the surrounding areas. They never saw much of the city, always too busy studying or reading on the train, and Sonic couldn't help but wish for a different life – a life where he and Tails were free to travel the world, see everything with wide eyes and experience everything the planet had to offer. Experiences over possessions was his motto, and he knew Tails felt much the same, but even if _he_ was free in less than a year, the kit would be stuck in a classroom, grinding against the boredom and uncreative routine that stunted both of them. He wished he could take Tails with him, wanted to save him from a life of books and equations, but he knew that he couldn't. Not until Tails graduated or hit sixteen, whichever came first.

"Do you think we could get ice cream after school?" Tails' voice came quietly, unassuming and apprehensive, and Sonic wasn't sure if he had heard him until the fox turned to look at him.

Sonic sighed, swiveling in his seat so he was facing his friend. "I've got gymnastics practice after school, but I can ask Knuckles to take you."

The kit's blue eyes fell and he sighed. "Nah, I need to stay after to research in the library anyway."

Sonic smiled sadly, reminded of just how young Tails was. He should be in elementary school, preparing for recess and multiplication, not worrying about a massive research paper due in a few weeks. "Tell you what, we can make the trip back home together. I was gonna get Knuckles to bring you, but since you're staying after, I can wait until you're done. We can get ice cream from that small place across the street from the station if it's not too late. How about it?"

Tails grinned at him. "Sounds great."

They sat in silence after that, and Tails leaned forward to root around in his backpack. He pulled out a text book Sonic didn't recognize and the hedgehog scowled. The school liked to pile extra work on Tails to make sure he wasn't bored, but it only served to distract him for an extra thirty minutes at best. He soaked up everything he read, and even though his strengths were in mathematics and applied sciences, he still did reasonably well in languages; history was the simple act of memorizing facts, which Sonic himself excelled at, so Tails was easily the most successful student that had ever walked Bellwyn's halls. However, this did not stop him from studying nonstop, and Sonic hoped they would let up soon.

They pulled up to the school fifteen minutes later and Sonic dragged their backpacks out of the car while Tails leaned forward to pay the driver. He blinked at the fox, obviously just now realizing how young he was, before shrugging and accepting the mobiums. After Tails had climbed out and the car had sped away, he looked up at Sonic with the same expression as earlier on the driveway and the hedgehog felt a chill ripple up his spine.

"Sonic—"

"Are you gonna join one of the academic teams?" Sonic cut across before Tails could start. "Silver was talking about how they needed more people on the math team."

Tails squinted at him, easily seeing his feint, but seemed to decide that he need a break because he shrugged. "I dunno. Depends on how much homework I have in the next few weeks. What about you? You gonna go out for track?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "What do you take me for? Of course I'm gonna try out. Maybe I can get these lazy a—" The blue one cut himself off as he spied a flash of green heading in their direction, and he dropped Tails' backpack at their feet. "Actually, maybe we shouldn't talk about this." The hedgehog moved to stand in front of his adopted brother, quills rising a bit in defense as the green weaving through the crowd was joined by gray and purple. "Get to class Tails. I have something to take care of."

Tails leaned around Sonic and his face fell into an angry scowl at the sight of the three mobians making their way toward them. "C'mon Sonic, don't fight. School hasn't even started yet."

"Jet knows better than to start something physical here," Sonic hissed back as a trio of birds sauntered up, their leader obviously the green one standing in front. "Go Tails. I don't want you getting pulled into this."

"But Sonic—"

" _Go._ "

The fox sighed and pulled his backpack onto his shoulders. "Don't be late," he commanded ominously before disappearing into the crowd in front of the school.

Sonic watched him go, eyes lingering on his small form until he scaled the steps and vanished through the front doors. Then, he turned to the birds, face morphing from worried to disgusted in seconds.

"Sonic Hedgehog," the green one greeted as he came to a stop a few feet in front of the hedgehog. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Oh yeah, fancy that – running into someone you go to school with everyday. What's next? You're gonna blow my mind about the coincidental way the ground gets kinda slippery when it rains?"

Jet scowled and the large gray mobian behind him growled and clenched his fists. "Now now Storm," Jet said soothingly, patting the air in what Sonic supposed was supposed to be a calming gesture, "I'm sure Sonic here knows better than to sass the Babylon Rogues. We'll give him a chance to apologize."

Sonic grinned threateningly, barring small hedgehog incisors. "Last I checked, the Babylon Rogues didn't allow children into their ranks. Or did they make an exception because you finally learned how to tie your shoes?" He glanced down at Jet's footwear, spying the buckled boots that always adorned the hawk's feet. "Well..." he laughed, "maybe not."

"You're gonna pay for that," Storm growled, moving forward in a lumbering move that almost knocked Jet to the ground.

"Hold on Storm," Jet called once he regained his balance. The giant bird halted before he could take another step. "Don't let him goad you. That's just what he wants."

"The question here isn't what I want, Jet." Sonic tapped his foot, glancing at the clock above the doors of the school. He only had ten minutes to get away from these idiots, stop by his locker, and get to class before the class president took roll. "I've got places to be, so if you could tell me why you're wasting my life, that'd be great."

"You know why, hedgehog. You've got quite a collection of friends these days. Word on the street is that you're forming your own gang to take out the Rogues."

Sonic stared at him for a few seconds, trying to decide if he was being serious. Jet's expression was stony, determination clear on his features, and Sonic decided that yes, he was.

He snorted.

That was the wrong move. Storm lunged forward again, even as Jet and their other companion – Wave, Sonic thought her name was – yelled at him to stop. The next thing Sonic knew, he was on the ground, breath knocked out of his lungs, a huge gray mass above him. He could feel a hand on his head, grounding his quills into the ground, and could vaguely sense Storm's other fist rise to punch him in the stomach. He was ready to kick his legs up into the bigger mobian's stomach when something red barreled in out of nowhere and yanked Storm away from him. The red form spun Storm away, sending him to the ground at Jet and Wave's feet, grunting a bit at the effort.

"Knuckles," Sonic croaked, struggling to sit. The red form coalesced into the shape of one of his best friends, and Sonic grinned at the stormy expression on the echidna's face.

"Get up, you idiot." A large, fingerless glove was held out in front of him and Sonic happily accepted the help. Knuckles yanked him up with enough force that Sonic had to bounce to keep from overbalancing and he grinned.

"Thanks for the help, but I had it covered."

"Clearly," Knuckles deadpanned as he rotated his right arm, the opposite hand clutching his shoulder. "It's too early for this. I haven't stretched yet."

Sonic rolled his eyes. Knuckles was of a small frame, shoulders barely broader than Sonic's, but he possessed considerable strength – enough to dead lift at least three normal sized mobians. "You know my track record – be ready for a fight at any time."

Knuckles looked ready to reply, but Jet's squawking voice cut him off. "You'll pay for that, hedgehog! You better watch your back!"

Sonic glanced back appraisingly at his quills before turning back to Jet with a raised eyebrow. "I think my back's covered. You might want to watch yours."

"C'mon Jet," Wave urged, glancing at the doors of the school, where the commotion had been noticed by a few teachers. "We need to get outta here."

"We'll be seeing you again, Sonic Hedgehog!" With those parting words, Jet and Wave hurried off, Storm struggling to his feet to follow. Sonic sighed.

"Thus begins the uneventful Tuesday."

Knuckles grunted, stalking back to where he had dropped his backpack. "Don't say things like that," he ordered as he stooped down to grab Sonic's bag as well. "You'll jinx it." He shoved the pack into the hedgehog's hands with a bit more force than necessary, sending him rocking back a few feet. "Let's get to class."

o0o

Sonic slid into his chair right as Reese started taking roll, calling the name of one Mighty Armadillo, and Tails swiveled in his seat to give Sonic the stink eye. He opened his mouth to begin what was obviously a scathing remark, but a gloved hand clapped itself on Sonic's shoulder, distracting them both, as its owner waded around the hedgehog's desk to get to his own, late as usual.

"Heard you roughed up the Rogues, Sonic! Way to go, man."

"Silver," Sonic sighed, resisting the urge to bang his head into his desk when Tails' eyes narrowed dangerously. Distantly, Sonic wondered just when Tails had become the older brother. "Shut up."

"You took on _Storm_! You're the talk of the school!"

"Knuckles pulled Storm _off_ me before he could punch me in the face. Can't exactly say I won that round."

Tails made a distressed sound, which Silver ignored. "You survived though! That's more than most people can say."

Sonic rolled his eyes for what was probably the thirty-second time that day and sent a silent prayer to chaos for the strength to get through the day.

"Silver," a smooth female voice sounded from behind Sonic, "leave Sonic alone. You know he doesn't like it when you fanboy around him."

Silver made an offended noise, head turning to give the owner of the voice a sad look. "Blaze, don't say things like that. Sonic adores me."

"Only when you let him copy your homework," Blaze replied lazily, one ear perked to listen for her name. "The rest of the time, he barely tolerates you." Then, as if on cue, she offered a gentle "present" when Reese called for her. "Face it, you can be annoying."

Silver placed his hand over the white tuft of fur on his chest, once again wearing only his uniform jacket with no shirt. "You wound me, Blaze. Next thing I know, you're gonna tell me you don't love me."

"She doesn't," Sonic and Tails offered at the same time, tones equally blank.

"Yet," Silver pointed at them, eyebrows raised, "she doesn't love me _yet_."

"You're delusional," Sonic commented as he turned back around to root around in his backpack. "Speaking of copying homework... How 'bout it Silver? Did you do the math homework?"

"A delusional man never does homework."

"Did I call you delusional? I meant creatively crazy."

"Sonic," Tails cut in before Silver could reply, voice carrying a touch of warning. "What happened outside?"

"Nothing, bud. Jet and I had a very... _interesting_ conversation. Luckily, Knuckles was there to keep it from getting too exciting."

"Yeah, but—"

"Silver Hedgehog," Reese voice called over Tails' objection.

"Here!"

"Sonic Hedge—"

"Regrettably, here," Sonic began, eliciting a few chuckles from their fellow students, "and, of course, denying relation to Silver as always."

"You wish you could be in the same gene pool as me."

"That much stupid would probably reverse the gravity field around the planet," Sonic shot back digging into his backpack for a pencil. "Homework?"

Silver sighed. "Fine." He reached into his bag and extracted a rumpled piece of paper. "Don't come crying to me if it's wrong."

"You're here on a _math_ scholarship."

"Doesn't change the fact that I possess half of the stupid required to potentially end the world."

"Miles Prower," Reese's voice came again, and the smile that had crawled its way across Tails' face was kidnapped by a dark scowl.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"You really hate it, don't you kid?" Sonic asked as he scratched down answers.

The fox sighed and leaned his cheek into his palm. "It's annoying, I guess."

Sonic paused and turned to look at him. "We can talk to Chuck about changing it if you want."

Tails sighed. "Nah, it's fine. I can live with it. It's better than being named after my _fur color_..."

Silver made another offended noise and Tails smiled deviously at him. "I'll have you know, my grandfather was named Silver."

"Your grandfather's name is Roy," Blaze cut in blandly, straightening the papers on her desk.

"Shots fired," Sonic commented in a mirroring monotone voice.

" _Bla-aze_ ," Silver whined, "why have you forsaken me?"

Blaze ignored him and focused on Reese, ears perked as she finished roll and started on class announcements. Sonic quickly returned to his copying, trying to get some of Silver's scratch work down as well.

Silver and Blaze were an odd pair. Silver was loud, expressive, and excitable, while Blaze was stoic, sarcastic, and caring, but they brought out the best in each other. Sonic remembered the first time he saw them, huddled together on their first day at Bellwyn, best friends from the beginning. Blaze had parents that were very popular politicians on South Island, earning her a spot in the prestigious school, while Silver was gifted in advanced math, specifically algorithms. Yet, they had known each other even before they moved to Station Square for school, and despite how much they bickered, one could tell that they were inseparable.

"How's life in the dorms?" Sonic directed the question at Blaze. Bellwyn's dorms were reserved for students who came from out of town for school, and they were herald as some of the best on the continent. But, Sonic had heard rumors that there were some problems, mainly with certain individuals.

"Fine. My room assignment was changed last week when Reese's roommate dropped out." Blaze shrugged.

"What about you?" Sonic turned to Silver, ignoring the dark look the metallic hedgehog was still sending the purple cat sitting behind him.

"Espio and Knuckles got into scuffle with some of the middle school boys. They were picking on Amy and Cream." He grimaced. "Wasn't pretty for the kids, and Knuckles was complaining about the lack of challenge, but other than that, it's been quiet."

Sonic nodded firmly. "Good. Keep your eyes out. Jet and Storm are on the hunt for—" Tails sent him an alarmed look and Sonic quickly cut himself off. "Just, watch your backs."

Silver and Blaze shared worried looks but nodded nonetheless, and Sonic went back to his copying. The small group of four faded into silence after that, Tails delving into one of his text books, Blaze comparing her history notes with Silver's, and Silver folding paper airplanes. Class president Reese finished the announcements, calling for questions, and, as the room dropped into quiet while she waited, the door opened.

Thirty-one heads swiveled toward the door, including Sonic's. Every person in the room watched as a dark form appeared in the room, dressed impeccably in the school uniform. Black and red quills swooped up and back from his head, and bright crimson eyes blinked in surprise when their owner realized he was the center of attention.

"Oh, ahem," Reese began, pink hands fluttering up in surprise, "you must be our new classmate. Everyone, this is Shadow... erm... What's your last name?"

The new student coughed, hesitating on his name as if he wasn't sure. "...Hedgehog. Shadow Hedgehog."

Sonic's vision tunneled and his world lurched. Suddenly, he was no longer in the classroom; he was floating in a black space, twinkling spots of light surrounding him. He could feel power curling under his skin, writhing in his stomach, and surrounding his heart, and he realized distantly that he was glowing. He was golden, a color so pure that it hurt to look at his own hands and he focused instead on the black around him.

Space, he was in space, he realized with a jolt. Suddenly, the urge to scream rippled up his throat, but that was squashed back by the more logical thought of _how am I alive I'm not breathing there's no air here I should be frozen what is_ going on. Then, the more pressing issue of _how did I get here_ , pushed the panic attack away as quickly as it had come.

"Sonic!" he heard Tails' voice in his ears, except it wasn't _his_ Tails. This Tails was different, it was terrified and relieved in the same breath. However, that voice yanked his attention away from the space around him and his focus instead moved to the dark blur plummeting toward the planet, the form painfully familiar to him.

"Hedgehog, huh?" He came back to himself as Reese spoke and he shook his head, hoping to dislodge whatever brain cells were malfunctioning and pulling him into crazyland. "Any relation to Sonic or Silver?"

Red eyes turned in the direction that Reese waved her hands and narrowed as they swept over Sonic, Tails to his left, and Silver to his right.

"No," all three hedgehogs replied at the same time, one voice hostile, one monotone, and the last with a touch of contempt.

"Well..." Reese floundered for a few seconds before clapping her hands. "Take a seat, Shadow. The teacher will be here any minute and we can get started with class."

The new hedgehog moved toward their small pocket in the center of the room and Sonic glanced around as inconspicuously as possible. The class was full, and there were only a few empty seats: one at the back of the room, one in front of Sonic, and the other next to the door. Eyeing the desk in front of him, Sonic carelessly tossed his backpack into the chair and propped his feet up on the back legs, blocking it from use.

Shadow didn't glance at the empty seat and passed it without pause. His eyes were glued on the desk in the back of the room, and, as he brushed past Sonic, the blue hedgehog's senses blinked out again, replaced with the sight of trees, smells of the jungle, and the sound of his own thudding heart.

" _Faker_ ," he hissed without realizing, and then blinked a millisecond later as the classroom came back into focus. Shadow was frozen next to him, jaw clenched and hands large fists at his sides. Sonic scrambled back a few mental steps, wondering where the hell _that_ had come from and trying to figure out how it could have possibly offended the new student. "Look man, I'm sorry. I don't know why I—"

But then, Shadow bit back in a blank, calculating voice, as if he were testing something, "You're not good enough to be my fake."

"I'll make you eat those words!" Sonic barked back, overlapping Shadow before he could finish. "Wait, what the _hell_..."

"Sonic...?" Tails' voice came timidly and Sonic ignored him in favor of watching as a satisfied look spread across Shadow's face. The dark hedgehog continued forward as if nothing had happened and Sonic fell back into his seat, wondering just when he had lurched upward. "Are you okay?"

Sonic buried his face in his tan arms, burrowing into the relative safety of his limbs. "I don't know..." he whispered so quietly he could barely hear himself.

But, Tails heard, and, judging from the alarmed look Sonic could sense on his back, he was just as confused as Sonic was.


	3. Silver! We're Not a Gang!

Lunch at Bellwyn was a school wide affair. All three schools let out for the same hour break, and every student over seven years old was allowed to do as they pleased, as long as they stayed on campus. Most gathered in the quad, a large grassy rectangle between the three schools and the soccer field. It was big enough to comfortably accommodate three games of kick-the-can, at least four dozen groups of kids seated in circles with their lunches, one ongoing card tournament, and two groups of little kids playing tag. It was the middle of October, so the weather was great, with the smallest of breezes that ruffled fur and clothing alike, and the sky was clear. When the temperature dropped or it was raining, the students were forced to spend their free time in their classrooms, eating at their desks, but, for now, they could laugh and joke in the freedom of the fresh air.

Sonic was sitting with his friends under a tree, half listening as Amy regaled them with tales of a boy who was after her heart. Notes left in her locker and desk, candy ferried to her through Cream, even flowers showing up at her house one morning; it was all very romantic, not that Sonic was paying much attention. He was too busy watching Tails as he worked on his sixth homework assignment that day, while still keeping an eye out for the appropriately named Shadow. He wasn't sure what he would do if he saw him, but he wanted to be prepared for another déjà vu episode.

Class that morning had been an interesting affair. Tails kept casting him strange looks, Silver took to flying paper airplanes when the teachers had their backs turned, and Sonic, after spending half the morning with his head on the desk, actually paid adequate attention. He barely moved as his pen scratched across the page, didn't adjust his ramrod position in his desk for what felt like four hours, but was more than likely no more than two, and refused to look behind him, despite the stare he could feel on the back of his skull for most of the instruction period. When the bell for lunch came, Shadow was up and out of the room before Sonic could blink. After glancing over to make he wasn't the only person who saw that quasi-teleportation, he met Tails' wide eyed stare; he hadn't been alone.

"Speaking of strange boys," Silver broke into Amy's monologue, cutting into Sonic's thoughts as well, "there's a new student in our class."

Knuckles, who had been shoveling food into his mouth, paused and glanced up. "Yeah?" he grunted, interest piqued.

"Yup. He and Sonic had a run in right in the middle of class."

"Again?" Amy sighed, reaching over to whap Sonic on the head with her chopsticks, which he easily dodged. "I thought we agreed—"

"New kid said something that got Sonic worked up," Tails commented as he filled in a blank on his English homework, "wasn't his fault."

"What'd he say?" Knuckles leaned forward, nearly knocking his food out of his lap.

"Nothing." Sonic's voice was clipped. "Don't worry about it."

"He took off like a bat out of hell when the bell rang," Silver added. "Bet he has some evil overlords to report to."

"Don't be ridiculous," Blaze scoffed from behind her history book, "he was probably as weirded out as Sonic was."

Knuckles made a sound that begged explanation, and Silver grinned. "Yeah, man, Sonic was so spooked, he took notes the whole second half of class. Bet he understands how to conjugate those English verbs better than Tails."

The fox sighed, closing his book with his homework assignment trapped in the pages. "Look, Shadow obviously isn't a people person. Let's give him a chance to get used to Bellwyn before we judge him."

Silver and Knuckles stared at the fox, while Amy and Blaze looked away, obviously embarrassed. Sonic blinked at his friend; Tails wasn't usually the most forgiving of people. Perhaps it had to do with some of things that had happened to him before Chuck adopted him, or it was simply in his natural demeanor to be suspicious of people, but it wasn't like him to suggest against first impressions.

Tails glared back at his friends, resolute. "I'm serious. Think about Knuckles before we got to know him – he almost beat you guys up!"

"That's because he thought we were treating _you_ badly, kid," Sonic argued, ignoring the echidna's increasingly tense posture.

"Yeah!" Silver clapped a hand on Knuckles' shoulder, making the red mobian flinch. "I thought we already established that Knuckles has a bizarre need to protect things."

"I do not!" Knuckles barked back, shaking the metallic hedgehog off. "Tails listened to everything you said and did everything you asked him to... It was super suspicious from where I was."

"It's called respect, Knux." Sonic winked when Knuckles growled at the nickname. "It goes both ways."

"I dunno Sonic, you're kinda hard to respect," Tails refuted, opening his book again once he realized that the argument was pretty much over. "I listen to you so you won't do anything stupid, most of the time."

"You— That's—" Sonic began over Amy and Silver's laughter, "You're a little smartass aren't you?"

"I learned from the best." Tails grinned, tapping his pencil on his homework. "What time does gymnastics end?"

The redirection worked, and the tense atmosphere hanging over the group evaporated. Amy and Knuckles turned back to their food, Silver dug around in his backpack for a textbook, and Sonic turned to Blaze with raised eyebrows, obviously asking her for an answer. Blaze and Sonic were the top athletes on the school gymnastics team, Sonic excelling on bars and Blaze on beam, and Blaze had been voted team captain a few weeks ago. She set practice times with the coach after working as well as she could around everyone's schedules, and she was the one who usually reminded Sonic when they had practice.

"Bars and vault should be done at around five-thirty, but Coach wants everyone to run through a basic floor routine, so we might not get out until after six. Why?"

"The library closes at five, so I was wondering if it was an open practice. You know, so I can sit in the gym if practice runs over."

"You don't need to wait for Sonic, Tails," Knuckles said before Blaze could answer. "I can take you home."

"Tails and I have something to do after I get out. Plus, I need you to take Amy and Cream home." Sonic ignored the annoyed sound the pink hedgehog made. "Vanilla'll kill me if they make the trip alone. Plus..." he trailed off, glancing sideways at Tails, "y'know, _this morning_."

Knuckles blinked once before nodding. "Gotcha."

"I can come with you, Knuckles," Silver added. "I've got nothing better to do with everyone else at practice."

"Actually, I need someone to take something to Vector. I was gonna drop it off myself, but I forgot about practice so..." Sonic glanced at Silver with a pleading expression.

"Can't you give it to Espio? I'm sure he's headed that way."

"Espio's got martial arts practice."

Silver threw his hands up. "Why does everyone have practice except me?"

"Join a team," Tails offered as he wrote a sloppy English verb in the second to last blank on the sheet.

"I'm not a team player, Tails, you know that."

"Then stop complaining."

Silver huffed, but couldn't come up with a decent enough rebuttal, so he crossed his arms and went back to his textbook, muttering about having to do the thankless work of an errand boy.

"Anyway..." Blaze began again after silence ticked on for a few seconds. "Practice is supposed to be closed, but Coach knows you, so she probably won't have a problem with it. Just stay out of the way."

"All right, thanks Blaze." The fox offered the purple girl a huge smile, which she couldn't help but return. Then, he snapped his book closed. "Well, I'm gonna head to library for the rest of break. Need to get a head start on my research. See you guys in class."

Tails stood and shoved his book into his bag before shouldering it and turning away with a wave. The group returned it with varying amounts of enthusiasm, and then turned inward again.

"Sonic..." Knuckles began, "about this morning—"

The hedgehog held up a hand. "Amy," he started, turning to the pink girl, "could you—"

"Yeah, yeah." She closed the lunch box on her lap with a bit too much force. "Super secret Rogue related nonsense. You know, you really shouldn't be doing this secret meeting stuff. Someone's gonna get the wrong idea."

"Too late for that..." Sonic muttered as she stood and dusted off the skirt of her bright pink uniform. Distantly, Sonic thanked Chaos that the high school girls didn't wear that garish color. "Look, don't—"

"Say no more." Amy pulled her messenger bag onto her shoulder and turned toward the middle school. "I need to make sure Cream got enough to eat anyway."

"You're a great big sister, Amy," Silver commented, scooting closer into the circle to fill the space the girl had just vacated. "Cream's lucky to have you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Well, I'm off. Don't do anything stupid."

"We'll try," Blaze deadpanned, carefully placing her books away to get rid of the distraction.

They waited a few seconds for Amy to move out of earshot before looking expectantly at the blue hedgehog. He sighed and glanced around, checking to be sure no one had crept closer. "You already know most of this, but I should probably start from the beginning." He paused to look at each of them, catching three pairs of eyes. "Jet cornered me this morning. Like always, he claimed to be a part of the Babylon Rogues, which I don't believe for a second. Jet's father is vicious, but he's determined to keep kids out of the Rogues. Still, loyalty can go a long way, so even if he's not officially in, he might as well be."

Knuckles nodded. "I overheard some of what he was saying to you before Storm tackled you. He thinks you're starting gang?"

Sonic chuckled dryly and then rolled his eyes. "As if, right? I mean, I guess it's _almost_ suspicious because of my friendship with you guys, considering Knuckles' past, Blaze's parents, and Silver's... Well..."

"Two out three isn't bad," Knuckles deadpanned, earning a dark glare from the metallic hedgehog.

"But, I'm still not clear on what the problem is," Blaze spoke up. "Jet's dumb, but he's not dangerous. The worst he can do is challenge you to an Ex Gear race."

Sonic shook his head. "That's what I'm worried about. Jet might be harmless, but if he brings this up to his dad, he might take us as a serious threat."

"A bunch of high school kids...?" Silver's voice was dubious. "C'mon, the Rogues are up there with the Chaotix, and you've _met_ Espio. He's not threatened by anyone."

Blaze sighed. "Actually, it's not that big a stretch. Knuckles alone is a threat, and Sonic might not be known for much, but he's notorious for being a brilliant strategist – a hard headed one at that."

"What does that make us?" Silver queried, looking at Blaze. "Cannon fodder?" She grimaced and he paled. "You're joking... I'm nothing but a _meat shield_?!" He rounded on Sonic. "C'mon man! Five years of friendship and this is how you repay it?!"

"Silver," Sonic groaned, "we're not a gang."

"But if we _were_..."

"If we were forming a gang, I think you'd be the last person Sonic would ask to join," Knuckles added helpfully.

"You," Silver said formidably, pointing at the echidna with narrowed eyes and a tight frown.

"Face it, _Amy'd_ be a better choice."

"Knuckles," Sonic snapped, "shut up."

"Yes, oh fearless leader."

"The point remains," Blaze continued, ignoring the small exchange, "what're we gonna do about this?"

Sonic held his hands up helplessly. "What can we do? We need to keep the kids safe and hope that this blows over. Until then, try not to go anywhere alone, okay?"

Blaze and Knuckles nodded, while Silver smirked, eyes riveted at something over Sonic's shoulder.

"Aye aye." He saluted with two fingers. "Now, are we gonna talk about mister dark and scary making his way over here, or are we gonna ignore him?"

" _What_?" Sonic choked, spinning around. Sure enough, Shadow was marching rather determinedly toward their small group of four. "Where did he come from?!"

"He's been standing on the other side of the quad for a while," Silver said cheerily.

"And you didn't mention him because...?"

"I thought the gang meeting was more important."

" _Silver_..."

The metallic hedgehog chuckled, opting to begin packing up his books and lunch instead of answering. "You better think of something quick. Unless you wanna call him a _fader_ again."

"Faker, I called him a faker."

"Oh... That makes a lot more sense, actually."

Sonic opened his mouth to reply, but Shadow finally reached their huddle. He stopped a few feet away, obviously wary of Sonic's tense position. After a few seconds, however, it became clear that his walking up was the only conversation starter they were gonna get, and the blue hedgehog puffed out a rough breath.

"What do you want?" he snapped harshly, earning Knuckles' concerned gaze.

Shadow blinked in surprise at his callous tone, but quickly composed himself. "I need to talk to Blaze."

"I don't want to talk to yo— Wait, _Blaze_?"

"...yes," Shadow replied slowly, as if he were talking to an idiot. "Can we...?" He gestured in a random direction, obviously only caring that it was _away_. "It won't take long."

Blaze gazed unblinkingly at him, large amber eyes scrutinizing his every move. Shadow stared back, unabashed and unembarrassed, and Blaze eventually sighed and pushed herself to her feet. Her uniform was rumpled, and she smoothed her hands down the white fabric of her pants and straightened her dark blue shirt before stepping toward him.

Shadow guided her a few yards away, just far enough away that the group of boys couldn't hear what was being said. The dark hedgehog positioned them so Blaze was facing away from the group, and Knuckles leaned over so he could watch Shadow's expressions closely.

"What'd you think he wants?" the echidna asked as Shadow began to speak, face stoic and hands at his sides. "I mean, did he even talk to Blaze earlier?"

Silver had eyes only for the girl and new student, face stony; he shook his head. "No, only Sonic."

"Then what does he want with Bla— Did he just pull out a _lighter_?!"

Sonic jerked around. Shadow had a small cigarette lighter positioned in front of Blaze's nose, right between her eyes. They couldn't see Blaze's face, but Sonic could imagine that her eyes were wide, and he moved to spring to his feet. Silver was two steps ahead of him and was already across the grass, five feet away from the pair, when Blaze's hand jerked up, shocking them all. She grabbed the lighter, snatching it away from Shadow's hand as if he had been handing it to her. The small flame grew with a bright flash, nearly overwhelming the small plastic casing, and she flicked it closed with a sharp snap of her fingers. Then, it flashed through the air as she tossed it back, posture ramrod and fur puffed up. She said something to him, acid tone traveling far enough to reach Sonic's ears, and spun around to march away, pitch black expression foreign on her fine features.

She barely avoided colliding with Silver, the metallic hedgehog frozen in place with an arm outstretched to reach for her shoulder. With grace provided to her by her ancestry, she sidestepped him, saving the both of them from a tumble to the ground, and Silver blinked as she reached up and grabbed his hand, pulling it into hers.

"Coming to save me?" she asked sardonically, small smile belying her tone. "I had it covered."

"I know," Silver replied, completely unabashed. "I'm the backup."

Blaze shook her head and let go of his hand as she rolled her eyes. "You're something, you know?"

Silver took that rhetorically and cast a glance over her shoulder. Shadow was already gone, nothing more than a black and blue blob disappearing through the doors to the high school. "What'd he want?"

The smile on her face fell, and Blaze's mouth pinched together. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. He's not worth talking about." She stepped away before he could argue and made her way to back to Sonic and Knuckles, who were eavesdropping as inconspicuously as possible. Unfortunately for the bright red and blue mobians, that left them very obviously leaning toward them, Sonic's triangular ear very pointedly swiveled toward them.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said plainly as she padded up and dropped back into the grass.

Knuckles opened his mouth to argue, but Sonic shook his head at him. The hedgehog could sense the tension in Blaze's every move, and he knew she needed time to sort through everything. Once she had it straight, she would fill them in. There wasn't any point arguing when she didn't know exactly what to make of the whole escapade.

"Can any of you remind me how to graph inequalities?" Sonic asked in an effort to steer the conversation away from the current subject matter. Blaze cast him a thankful look and he nodded.

Silver leaned over and squinted at him, unable to resist the urge to goad him. "As if you knew how to in the first place."

"Play along, math nerd," Sonic demanded. "Let me pretend I pay attention in class."

"You're living an illusion. That's not healthy."

"Just teach me how to math, Silver!"

"I can't teach you 'to math' anymore than Knuckles can teach you how to play piano."

"Are you saying I've got dexterity problems, hedgehog?" Knuckles' tone was dangerous, but Silver paid no heed.

"No, I'm saying you've got no fingers— Ow! No hitting! I take it back! Jeeze," he rubbed his arm, "you've got small cannon balls for fists."

"I didn't hit you that hard," Knuckles muttered darkly. "Learn to take a punch."

"I'm sorry I didn't expect to be assaulted sitting with my friends!"

"Suck it up."

They dissolved into directionless squabbling after that, and Sonic turned away from their argument to attempt his English homework. As he dug in his backpack, he looked up at Blaze. She was gazing thoughtfully at the grass, eyes far away as she puzzled over whatever Shadow had said to her. Sonic worried his lip anxiously; it took a lot to shake Blaze, and it looked like she had just gone through an earthquake.

It was only after the warning bell had rung and they were running across the lawn to get to class that Sonic remembered the strange way the lighter had flared when Blaze had touched it, and, by then, it was too late to bring it up.

o0o

The afternoon found Sonic wrapping sports tape carefully around his wrists, Blaze doing the same at his side. They hadn't shared more than five words since lunch, plunging themselves back into class – and ignoring Shadow – until the bell rang. Once they had cleared the room, seen Tails off at the library and Knuckles and Silver off at the front doors, they had made a quick trip to the gym, where Coach Julian was already barking orders. She was a formidable woman, despite her small size, and when she caught sight of them loitering in the doorway, hovering between the notions of fleeing and facing her, they darted to their respective locker rooms. Sonic was out first, having only to shed his uniform and gloves, but Blaze was close behind, clad in a purple leotard, white yoga pants, and white sneakers. Sonic's own shoes were beat up, red sneakers that had seen better days, but he refused to part with them. They had served him well, and he would honor them until such a time that they perished in a ball of flaming glory.

After thoroughly stretching with the rest of the team, Sonic was ordered to the bars to work on cleaning up his dismounts while Blaze was directed to do the same on the beam. Bellwyn's gymnastics center was state of the art, with only the best equipment. The team was ranked first in the city, and third in the world, and they always brought home a trophy when they competed. There were twenty people on the team, ten girls and ten boys, but today about half were missing. Coach liked to focus on certain events at each practice and didn't see the point in calling everyone in when she and her assistant could be at only one event at a time. The rest of the team would show up later for the floor exercise, but, until then, it would be a quiet practice.

Sonic ripped the tape from the roll and smoothed down the end, carefully layering it so it wouldn't pull free. Blaze had suffered a nasty fall a few months back that left her with a wobbly left wrist and Sonic always took care to wrap it for her, while Sonic himself suffered weak wrists simply because his strength lay in his legs. He didn't usually bother with tape because he used his grips on the bars religiously, but the changing weather was messing with his joints, so he took a few extra seconds to secure his hands – for safety's sake.

"Thanks," Blaze murmured as he finished with himself and turned to her, proffering the tape. She held out her hand and he immediately began spooling the tape around her wrist. "Class was something, huh?"

He grunted as he checked his work before dropping the roll back into the box. "I felt like there were twin lasers going into my head, but, other than that, it was fine."

Blaze sighed but didn't offer any more, so Sonic pulled his grips on, secured them, and turned to the chalk basin nearby to rub some on his hands. He clapped a few times to get rid of some residue and a cloud of white poofed up. "You doing okay?" he asked as she watched the chalk particles float to the ground. "You know, from earlier?"

She shrugged. "I'm fine – still confused. I didn't want to talk about this in front of the others, because Silver probably would've overreacted and there's no telling what Knuckles will do."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that. That lighter—"

She held a hand up to stop him. "I knew you noticed that. That's why I've been confused. He told me he was 'testing something,'" she did the appropriate finger quotes, "and then flicked a lighter to life in front of my face. It was second nature for me to grab it, and then it almost _blew up_... And, what's even weirder – he didn't look surprised. If anything, he looked like he was _expecting_ the lighter to act crazy."

"Do you think he rigged it?"

She shook her head. "Why test something you know is gonna happen?"

"Maybe he was testing to see if it worked."

"Then why me?"

Sonic shrugged. "For irony? Test the lighter on the girl named Blaze?"

She shook her head again, looking thoroughly unconvinced. "It was too calculated, and no one saw but us. Besides, the lighter wasn't any heavier than usual and there wasn't anything attached to it. There's something else going on here."

Sonic sighed and opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the shrill sound of a whistle.

"Hedgehog, Cat! Get moving!"

"We'll talk later," Sonic mumbled as he turned away. Blaze nodded and padded toward the beams, leaving Sonic with more questions than answers.

o0o

Tails didn't show up at five.

Usually, this wouldn't be a cause for alarm. It wasn't usual for the fox to convince the librarian to stay late so he could work, and he was more than capable of making the trip home alone. However, considering Sonic's run-in with the Rogues this morning, the timing was a little to conspicuous and, after checking his phone and seeing no messages from the fox, it was alarming. Sonic excused himself from class right after performing his floor routine at five forty and was free of chalk and tape and had his backpack by five forty-five. Blaze was waiting for him by the doors, a hoodie thrown over her leotard and pants, and she had her own bag thrown over one shoulder.

"Tails didn't call?" she asked as he pushed through the doors and walked briskly down the path.

"No," he answered as he picked his pace up to a jog. Blaze easily kept up.

"Do you think he got caught up in studying?"

Sonic shook his head as they rounded a corner and pounded up the steps to the main building. "He knows to let me know if he's gonna be late."

They arrived two minutes later and were greeted by locked doors and a darkened library. Immediately, Sonic bypassed the doors and slipped away, disappearing around a corner. Blaze stayed put, knowing well enough that she probably shouldn't be a witness to Sonic jiggling a window open. Thirty long seconds later and Sonic appeared in the small window on the other side of the door. He let her in and she breezed past him, heading back to Tails' favorite study spot.

Sonic overtook her in the stacks and froze in front of her when they broke free of the shelves. Tails liked to do his homework in one of the small computer terminals in the back of the large room, and only one computer was still on. The backlit screen provided just enough illumination for them to see Tails' backpack, books, and papers strewn everywhere. The chair was toppled over and it was obvious there had been some kind of struggle.

"Tails isn't here," Blaze breathed, looking to him for some kind of direction.

Sonic's heart dropped at those words and his vision darkened a little around the edges. He spun around, marking a beeline back toward the front of the room.

"I know who has him. We're getting him back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on the gymnastics in this story: I was in gymnastics when I was really little and my thirteen-year-old sister is a cheerleader and a marvel at floor stunts, so I know my way around a gym well enough. However, my knowledge is limited to the women's events, as the classes that I observe when I take my sister to practice are purely female. I don't have much experience with the pommel horse, parallel bars, rings, or single horizontal bar, and this has led me to cutting the men's events from the story. Most of the men's events focus on extreme upper-body strength, which Sonic is lacking; his strength is in his legs, not so much in his arms. However, he swings off quite a few bars in the games and does enough flipping for me to confidently place him on the gymnastics team, though I've decided to only use the women's events, for the sake of streamlining and to better fit the character profiles I'm working with. Oh, and hey, the tried and true excuse: it's Mobius; I can do whatever I want.


	4. Rescue! The Heroic Effort!

It took Sonic and Blaze five minutes to run from the library to Knuckles' dorm room. They scaled the stairs in large strides that ate them up in twos and threes, and Sonic pounded on the door hard enough to rattle it in its frame. A sleepy echidna cracked it open, a baleful violet eye glaring at them.

" _What_?" he demanded, taking in their heaving chests and short breath. "Was there a murder?"

Sonic shoved past him, red shoes squeaking under the force of his steps. Blaze followed quickly, snapping the door shut behind her, and Knuckles whirled around with his fists raised, ready to pummel something if he didn't get answers. "What's going on?"

"Tails is missing," Blaze started quickly, watching as Sonic seized up as the information hit again. "He didn't show up in the gym when he was supposed to and when we checked the library, he was gone."

"Are you sure he didn't just go home?"

"His stuff was still there and there were signs of a struggle. Someone took him."

Knuckles cursed, spinning around to slam his fist into the wall. "Who—?" He cut himself off, expression darkening. "Jet."

Blaze nodded, watching Sonic as he yanked his cell phone out and fired off a quick text. A few seconds later, his phone buzzed and his brow furrowed.

"Didn't take long, did it?" Knuckles growled. "Jet's a spineless coward, kidnapping an eight-year-old."

"We're getting him back," Sonic said lowly, fingers a blur as he typed. "I've contacted Mighty and Espio and they're heading out to the street to start looking. Blaze, have you gotten a hold of Silver?"

Blaze pulled her phone out of her pocket. Still no messages. "Nothing. Wasn't he taking something to Espio? Maybe he's with him."

"That was hours ago. He should be back here."

"You know Silver. He's probably asleep in the park or something."

"Useless," Knuckles muttered, stomping away to toe into his shoes. "I'm heading out. Keep me informed."

Blaze nodded again. "Okay. Good luck."

"You too. Lock the door behind you."

Then, they were alone again. Sonic was staring at phone, waiting for another text to come in, his eyes wide discs of burnt grass. His hands were shaking and his breathing was shallow, obviously on the verge of a panic attack. Blaze took a few quick steps toward him and wrapped her hands around his, easily extracting the cell phone from his grasp. "C'mon now," she muttered under her breath, moving one hand to his cheek to force him to look at her, "Tails wouldn't want you to be so worried."

"I should've made him go home..." Sonic's whole body was tense, ready to lash out, and Blaze dropped the phone into her pocket so her other hand could be free to cup his face. She held his gaze, her own expression light and positive. _We'll get him back_ , she told him silently, pressing the message in with her palms, _and nothing like this will happen again_. "He wanted to get ice cream today, you know? I told him no because of practice. I should have skipped—"

"Should have, would have, could have. You're playing with if scenarios, Sonic. We don't have time for that. All we can do now is use the cards we've been dealt." Her voice was gentle, providing him with the stability he needed. "We need to get out there. Do you know where Jet lives? Maybe his parents know where he is."

"His parents?" Sonic's eyes flashed, and suddenly he was back in control, as if his panic had evaporated. "You mean the leaders of the Rouges? Please, they wouldn't help us."

"Last I checked," Blaze began as she stepped away, hands dropping back to her sides, "they never involved children in their... activities. In fact, they sometimes protect kids."

"Only after they put them in the line of fire." Sonic held his hand out and Blaze dropped the cell back into it. He immediately looked down and started texting. "Tch, the Rouges are bad news. We're not going to them for help."

"Then where do you propose we start, wise guy? We can't be wandering around town, hoping for some luck! It's almost dark!"

"I'm _thinking_! We've got at least four people out on the street right now, looking for clues..."

"Maybe we should call the police. This is way over our heads—"

" _No._ This is my problem. I started it, and I'm gonna end it."

Blaze sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. Why was he so recklessly stubborn? They were wasting time!

"You said it yourself, we're not a gang! We need to call the police!"

"No—" he cut himself off as the phone in his hand let out a long buzz. "It's Silver." He slid his finger across the screen and then placed the device to his head, listening closely. Blaze watched as his expression morphed from agitation, through exasperation, and then finally faded into pale disbelief. " _What_?" Where are you? Near the park—? Silver, were you _sleeping_ — Yeah, but! Wait, you saw Storm? When? Well, what are you waiting for? Follow him!" A long pause. " _You're not cannon fodder, Silver._ Follow Storm; he's got Tails!"

Sonic sighed and his hand fell away from his face, the phone lighting up in time for Blaze to see the call cut off. Her eyes rose to gaze at his face, watching as he tried to get a grip on the mixture of relief, annoyance, and worry vying for control of his emotions. "Silver happened to see Storm cutting across the park. He's following him now. Hopefully he'll lead us right to Jet and Tails."

Blaze felt a grin break across her face. "I guess we're lucky Silver's a slacker."

"You're telling me." He turned and made a beeline for the door. "C'mon, let's get going before he screws this up."

Blaze sighed and followed him. "Silver can be competent when he wants."

Sonic's silence spoke volumes.

o0o

" _Shit_ ," Silver hissed as he stepped on a particularly weak limb and it cracked under his weight. Ahead of him, Storm, now joined by Jet and a suspiciously fox-sized burlap sack, paused, and Silver dove behind the closest tree. He pressed his back against the trunk, trying to quiet his heaving breathing until he heard his prey begin their trek forward again. Really, he wasn't cut out for this ninja sneaking stuff; that was more Espio's thing. Silver was better suited to air conditioning and sitting. He was a mathlete for crying out loud!

He peeked around the tree in time to catch the pair weave between some foliage, disappearing into a particularly thick piece of underbrush, and he sighed. Luckily, he had shed his uniform after handing Sonic's letter to Espio and it was currently sitting in his backpack in the park, hopefully undisturbed. This impromptu rescue mission would have probably left his uniform in tatters, but, thanks to his foresight, he was only gifted with cuts up and down his arms. The alternative was second best only because those uniforms were way too overpriced for him to buy another. His body would heal; his bank account would not.

He stepped out from behind the tree, carefully moving in the direction the wannabe gang members had disappeared in. Quickly ducking through the brush, he caught the lumbering shape of Storm a few meters ahead of him. Humming quietly under his breath, he ducked behind another tree to put a bit more distance between himself and his targets.

Seconds later, his phone buzzed from within his boot, sending a shiver up his whole leg. He jumped and shoved his fingers into his shoe, snagging the phone and yanking it out with a touch too much force. Sonic's grinning face was plastered across the screen and Silver had half a mind to toss the thing into the woods. Damn that hedgehog, interrupting his dramatic spying montage.

He slid into the call and leaned slightly around the tree to make sure Jet and Storm hadn't escaped his line of vision. They had paused a couple meters away, talking to each other in low voices, and the lump over Storm's shoulder was starting to twist and struggle. Tails was awake.

" _Where are you_?" Sonic's voice hissed when Silver grunted at him in greeting. " _We're in the park and—"_

"I'm in the damn woods following Jet and Storm! You know, for a pair of kidnapping hooligans, they sure are freakin' dumb. Everyone knows you do a body dump in the woods."

Sonic choked. " _This isn't the time for jokes, Silver. Knuckles already wants to hit you because you went missing this afternoon. Don't push it."_

Silver resisted a groan. "Well, tell Knuckles to put on his trekkin' shoes because you're in for a hike. We've got a thirty minute head start on you because you're slower than a herd of turtles."

A pause. " _You're serious. They actually took Tails into the forest._ "

The metallic hedgehog thunked his head into the tree trunk and let the groan escape. "Yes, I'm serious. Do you need proof?" He bent down and grabbed a small stone. "I can give you proof. I have cuts up and down my arms and a blister the size of Empire City on my foot, but you want _proof_."

" _No, really Silver. I believe_ —"

"Too late, Sonic. Shut up." He switched the phone to speaker and frisbee'd the rock into a distant bush with laser accuracy. A flock of birds took to the air in a great clatter of wing beats and rustling leaves, and Silver tapped the screen and put the phone back to his ear.

" _Chaos, you're in the woods._ "

"Get your asses here in ten minutes or I'm never letting you see my homework again."

A long, extended pause. "If Tails' life weren't on the line, I would consider that a real threat."

"Just get here."

o0o

It wasn't hard to track Silver. The kid left a path of crushed plants and marked trees in his wake. Really, for a lazy, good-for-nothing, he sure managed to make himself useful when he applied himself. For all his bellyaching, he was trying, and that's what counted.

Now, if only Sonic could convince Knuckles of that.

For some reason, Knuckles and Silver didn't really get along. Sonic wasn't sure what started it, but they were always picking on each other. From the moment Silver and Knuckles first saw each other, there were practically sparks of testosterone flying between them. Sometimes, Sonic expected a giant NEW CHALLENGER APPEARED to flash up between them and then a huge brawl full of graphic mutilation and Japanese words to commence, leaving only one of them behind.

Or, maybe he just played too many video games.

Still though, as they followed Silver's path through the woods, Knuckles was getting a good rant going. Something about the younger hedgehog's lack of tact and his thoughtlessness, and how if he hadn't been napping in the middle of the day this whole thing could have been avoided and blah blah blah. Really, Sonic wasn't in the mood. All he wanted was to get Tails, beat in some heads, and get home. Chuck was getting suspicious, and his half truths about a late night study session with Silver would only get him so far.

"Look at this!" Knuckles was on a roll, heading their small party of three through the woods. Every now and then he would come across some imaginary transgression Silver had made against the plants and that would get him going again, only furthering' Sonic's annoyance. "He stomped on this tree's roots!"

"You do realize that Jet and Storm came through here first, right? It was probably them that—"

"And he squashed this flower! When I get my hands on him—"

"Knuckles," Blaze spoke for the first time in half an hour, voice filtering in from behind Sonic, "do you remember when you were a loner who never spoke? Can we go back to that?"

The echidna froze in front of them. Sonic patted him on the back and pushed his mouth closed as he passed. "Don't take it personally," he mumbled as he took the lead.

Their pace sped up significantly without Knuckles' mouth slowing them down. About fifteen minutes after hanging up with Silver, they found him huddling behind a tree, holding his phone up with the front camera turned on so he could see Jet and Storm. He waved them over as they approached and held a finger up to his lips, commanding silence as he leaned a little further to the right.

"Silver," Sonic began at length, moving to look around the other hedgehog's arm, "do you ever realize how much you use your phone?"

Silver's arm jerked back and the device was placed protectively against his chest. "No, he snapped.

Knuckles groaned and planted his forehead in his palm but wisely stayed silent after that. Sonic rolled his eyes. "So, what's happening?"

"They've been standing there for fifteen minutes. I think they're waiting for someone. Now would probably be a good time to strike, especially since that girl isn't here. If she shows up, we'll be evenly matched."

Sonic's expression went blank. "Three of them," he weighed his hands, "four of us."

"I'm a lover, not a fighter."

" _Silver_ ," Knuckles ground out, clenching his fists, "you are—"

"Be quiet." Sonic held a hand up. "How long has Tails been struggling?"

"Like twenty minutes?" Silver leaned far enough to look and winced as Storm dumped the sack on the ground. "I wasn't sure if he was awake earlier, but he sure is now."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "All right. I'm going to get him. Stay hidden until Jet orders Storm to hit me. We're not throwing the first punch, got me?"

A chorus of okays and yeses answered him and he stood, dusting off the backs of his legs. After taking a deep breath, he stepped out from behind the tree, schooling his features in preparation for the fight that was sure to come.

Suddenly, something large and brown flew through the air, crashed into him, and knocked him to the ground. His arms wrapping around it instinctively and he smashed into the dirt hard enough to dislodge a few brain cells. The sharp angle of an elbow jabbed itself into his stomach and a small yelp came from somewhere near his chest. Quickly, his brain registered the rough feeling of burlap against his stomach, and he glanced down long enough to take in the crumpled sack that he had just seen Storm drop on the ground.

"Tails?" His fingers pulled on a seam, and he ripped it open. A giant pair of ears appeared, followed closely by a golden head and two bright blue eyes. "Tails!" He wrapped his arms around the kid, and vaguely heard the fox laugh. "How—?"

A pair of footsteps stomped through the brush toward them and Sonic glanced up. Crimson irises glared down at him, black and red quills quirked upward against gravity, and impressive chest fur shining in the low sunlight. A low voice came next, low and annoyed. "You're welcome."

"S-shadow?!" Sonic was glad that Silver managed to gasp out the newcomer's name, because he was speechless.

"Tch." The new student looked like he was trying very hard not to roll his eyes. Sonic looked past Tails' impromptu savior and his eyes widened as he took in Jet and Storm's unconscious forms, slumped and twisted on the ground.

"What...?" His eyes flicked back to Tails, but the fox looked just as shocked as he did, head swiveling between Sonic and Shadow like he had seen a ghost. " _You_ —?"

"Go home, Sonic Hedgehog. I'll take care of this from here."

"But—"

"Take your friend home. He needs to get cleaned up, and –" he broke off, weighing his words, "we have... _school_ in the morning." Leaving no room for argument, he turned and stalked away, heading straight for the two birds. He bent down and threw the green one over his shoulder before grabbing Storm's large arm and dragging him off, deeper into the woods.

There was a long pause. "...did that just happen?" Silver managed to summarize the thoughts swarming through their heads concisely.

"I think I'm dreaming," Knuckles declared, standing. "But, either way, we better get Tails home." He stooped down and pulled the fox into his arms, ignoring the squawk of indignation that came from the child.

"Yeah..." Sonic stared after Shadow, his words echoing through his mind. "...school... Guess we'll see him tomorrow."

"Did you say something Sonic?" Tails was gazing at him over Knuckles' shoulder, eyes wide with concern.

The hedgehog shook himself. There would be time to worry about this later. For now, he needed to focus on Tails.

Shadow could come later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: Rescue! Or, Silver Tromps Through the Forest and Knuckles Complains!


	5. Tension! A New Gang Member Appears!

Sonic slept maybe three hours that night. Between the keyed up energy he dealt with on a daily basis and the paranoid fear that multiple gang members armed to the teeth were going to burst through his door at any minute, he was probably coasting along at a solid 103 when it came to his 100-point stress scale. He was so stressed and filled with nervous jitters that he ended up pacing almost all night, going back and forth in front of the couch like a farmer making rows. At around hour four, also known as two in the morning, he decided to do some homework, and actually managed to flow through his math. The English was another thing entirely and he gave up when the words started to swim on the page. This resulted in more pacing, and then he eventually ended up passed out on the couch, somehow.

He woke with a gasp around 5:15 in the morning, and, hearing his uncle moving around upstairs, decided to do something unprecedented and far too proactive for so early in the morning.

Sonic made breakfast.

It wasn't until he had a pan sitting on the stove, heat kicked up to high, eggs in hand, that he realized he knew nothing about cooking beyond cereal, heating things up, and chili dogs (which, he realized with a sinking feeling very similar to drowning, was actually just heating things up), so he just nixed the eggs and fell back to ole faithful.

Chuck tumbled down the stairs to soggy cereal and soggier toast. Sonic saw him stare at the table, dumbfound, and he pointed and accusatory finger at his uncle.

"You took too long. This was perfectly fine food fifteen minutes ago when I heard you get up."

"You... _prepared food_?" Chuck stumbled forward, one hand held up as if to check Sonic's forehead for a fever. "Are you sick?"

Sonic swatted him away. "Har-har, you're a comedian. Please," he gestured to the table once his uncle pulled his arm back, "eat my bounty. A word about mush and you go to work without food."

Chuck chuckled and sank into a chair. Tenderly, he fished a few pieces of cereal out of the bowl with a spoon and pushed them into his mouth. Chewing thoughtfully, Sonic saw him glance toward to window.

"Active afternoon yesterday, huh?" Sonic's uncle didn't look away from the window, a calculated move if Sonic had ever seen one. "I hope nothing... illegal happened."

Sonic, who had been in the process of sitting, fell into the chair instead, because his knees chose that moment to give out. Very carefully, he met his uncle's gaze in the window's reflection and noticed how hard Chuck was clutching his spoon. With a bit of trepidation, Sonic shook his head.

"Nothing illegal. Just... took care of some trouble. Nothing for you to worry about."

Chuck relaxed at that, and Sonic felt a bit like a cad. Sure, it was a half-truth, but it was for his uncle's own good. The last thing he wanted was Chuck getting pulled into some petty not-gang war. Sonic could handle this.

"I trust you, Sonny. Just, keep Tails safe, okay? He looks up to you and—"

Sonic felt his stomach drop open and he carefully pushed his own bowl of food away. No way he was eating that now. "I hear you, Unc. I'll try my best."

Chuck nodded and spooned another bite of cereal into his mouth. "Good," he said around the soggy mush. "You have a good head on your shoulders. I know you'll do me proud."

Sonic swallowed once but didn't reply. Instead, he looked down at his food, swirled his spoon around, and let the silence sit.

They hovered there like that, Chuck slowly and mechanically eating the cereal, sometimes swallowing without really chewing, and Sonic staring, first at his food, then out the window, and finally just over Chuck's shoulder, leaning back with one leg extended and his arms crossed, until Tails stumbled down the stairs, looking disheveled and not at all ready for school like usual.

"Hey kid," Sonic said when Tails stopped before them, hands on his hips, "you look... Unprepared."

"I don't feel well," Tails declared, voice strong. Sonic thought to call him on it, but considering the whole kidnapping thing, he let him have this one. "I need to stay home."

" _You_?" Chuck sounded about as flabbergasted as Sonic expected, and he leaned forward to feel Tails's forehead. "You don't feel warm."

"I'm sick," Tails insisted, "and I didn't sleep well."

Chuck glanced toward Sonic, as if to gauge his reaction, and Sonic looked Tails up and down, trying to seem thorough. Tails shot him a look, a brief side-eye that practically begged him to cover for him, and Sonic sighed dramatically.

"Yeah, he doesn't look well." Sonic plucked his glove off and mirrored his uncle, placing the palm of his hand on Tails's fuzzy forehead. The fox scrunched up his brow, probably trying to sell the act, and Sonic pulled his hand away after a few seconds, whistling under his breath. "He's slightly warm. Probably better to let him stay home. The teachers don't want any sick kids, _especially_ commuters, because they could spread it through the dorms."

Chuck sighed and Sonic knew they won. "You're right. All right, I'll call the office on my way to work to let them know you won't be there. Go on back up to bed. There's soup in the cupboard if you get hungry later."

Tails just barely managed to keep his grin under control as he turned to go back up the stairs, though he did pass Sonic one last glance, not that the hedgehog could read it. Tails was barely understandable on the best days and downright cryptic on the worst, and today was definitely one of the worst.

"I should get going myself." Chuck pushed away from the table and rose. "Don't be late," he called as an afterthought as he went to gather his things and get out the door.

Sonic groaned and looked at the dirty dishes spread across the table. "I'll try!"

o0o

Sonic managed the train this morning. It was crowded with other Bellwyn students of all ages, dark blue high school uniforms swirling amongst the bright pink and yellow of the younger kids, and Sonic had to struggle to get away from the doors so he could lean against a pole and look out the window. The train pulled away with a lurch, dragging its wheels across the metal tracks with a loud screech, and then they were off, moving smoothly toward the city.

About half of Bellwyn's student population commuted in for class, and Sonic swore that all of them were on this one train. Reflexively, he wrapped his hand around the metal pole he had claimed as his, and turned away from the rowdy morning crowd. Usually, with Tails, he would have to stand over the fox as he read, one arm looped around the pole, protecting the kid from the jostling bodies so he could focus, but today he was alone so he settled for the window. It was overcast, the clouds heavy and low-hanging with rain, and the small identical houses just beyond the tracks were blending together as they picked up speed, becoming nothing more than a whirl of color.

It would take about ten minutes to get into the city and then another five to get to the school. Sonic sighed and leaned his head against the cool metal of the pole, already tuning out.

About halfway through the trip, he felt someone move next to him. But, when he glanced to see if it was someone he knew, there was no one there. He felt his fur rise, hands curling into fists. Sonic didn't know what he would do if he was attacked considering the crowded nature of the train, but he would do _something_. That much was certain.

"Sonic," said a low voice he barely recognized, and the hedgehog felt his hands relax. Just there, beside him, he saw the air flicker, a flash of purple, the ripple of scales, and some yellow.

" _Espio_ ," Sonic breathed out, shaking his head and pursing his lips in agitation, "you can't _do that_ , man. I almost punched you."

Sonic heard Espio chuckle. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I imagine you don't _like_ being punched."

Just barely, Sonic felt Espio shrug. "I can take it." Then, he plowed forward without pause. "Vector sent me. Message received. We'll keep our eyes open for any movement from the Rogues. Mighty should be in contact."

Sonic had almost forgotten about the letter he had sent Silver with the afternoon before. Well, at least his friend wasn't totally unreliable. But still... "Why the cloak and dagger? You could've told me at school."

"I was followed." Espio's voice was even, as if this was common practice, but Sonic barely noticed as he was too busy trying to stay upright as ice went through his heart. His hand curled even tighter around the pole. "This was the safest way. I see you left Tails at home. That was probably safest. I'll tell Vector and he can have someone sitting outside your house in an hour to watch out for him."

" _No_ ," Sonic barked, "no," he repeated, trying to calm down. "We don't need that. It's a nice neighborhood with nosey neighbors. Tails will be fine. I'm more worried about you."

Espio clapped a hand on Sonic's shoulder, and Sonic would've jumped if this were any other day. As it was, the invisible hand was the least of his worries. "I can take care of myself. Watch your back though. Tell the others. We'll be in contact."

Sonic felt him move away and then he appeared on the other end of the carriage, leaning against the wall as if he had been there all along. Sonic forced himself to look away.

o0o

Sonic was so preoccupied when he got off the train that he almost ran right into Knuckles. The echidna was waiting for him near the front doors, hands crossed over his chest, and Sonic would've smacked full into his chest if Knuckles hadn't grabbed his arm and pulled him from the crowd, off the path, and amongst the trees lining the grounds.

"Someone's waiting for you," the echidna hissed as Sonic's head spun, trying to catch up with this whirlwind of a morning. "Blaze spotted him when she went in early. Where's Tails?"

"At home," Sonic mumbled numbly. "He wasn't feeling good."

Knuckles let out a huff of air that seemed relieved but Sonic couldn't be sure. "What do you want to do?"

"Is it a member of the Rogues? Is it _Jet_?"

"No." Knuckles inclined his head toward the front of the school. "It's Shadow."

" _What_?" Sonic whipped around and yes, there he was. Shadow, mounted on the top step with his feet spread even with his shoulders, arms akimbo, scanning the crowd.

"You heard me. Shadow's waiting for you. We figure he wants a favor for saving Tails yesterday. Should I rough him up?"

Sonic had half a mind to say yes, but then the situation hit him fully and he mumbled, "No, let's talk to him," without really thinking about it. They couldn't very well start a fight with so many witnesses around.

"All right, you're the boss."

Sonic groaned as he stepped back onto the path. "Please don't. We're not a gang."

Knuckles didn't reply, but Sonic could feel his smirk as he followed him up the path.

It didn't take long for Shadow to spot them. When he did, he tried to look casual as he marched toward them, but, in Sonic's opinion, he just ended up looking like he had a pole shoved up his ass as he walked, face screwed up into what was probably supposed to be a neutral expression but actually ended up looking like a gloating smirk. Sonic wanted to punch him.

"Sonic," he greeted in his low, smooth voice. Sonic had to force his hand from its first.

"Shadow. What do you want?"

"Where's your little fox?"

"Not here. What do you want?"

Shadow sighed like Sonic was a particularly difficult child. "I want a favor."

"Of course you do. Did you just save Tails yesterday so you could have something on me? Not cool, dude."

Shadow grinned then, a slow thing that made Sonic's anger tick from a wavering six all the way up to a solid fourteen. "Yes and no, consider that a bit of an audition. I want into your gang."

"Look, I'm not just someone you can just jerk around— Wait, _you what_?"

"We're not a gang," Knuckles put in, in almost a perfect impression of Sonic.

"I don't need your help," the blue hedgehog threw over his shoulder. Knuckles shrugged in return. The hedgehog turned back to Shadow. "We're not a gang."

Shadow chuckled lowly. "I heard. But, people think you are. You could use a little more muscle."

He had a point, but Sonic also wasn't really interested. He didn't like the idea of conforming to expectation—they _weren't_ a gang; why should they start acting like one just because people thought they were? They'd end up as one if they followed that path. "No," he decided, "we're not interested."

"You owe me."

"Look, man, you did that out of your own free will."

"Yes, I did, but you need my help. I know you've been having visions."

Everything froze. Sonic looked up and glared Shadow right in the eye, trying to gauge how serious he was because how could he possibly _know—_ The only person who knew about his deja vu was Tails and Tails would _never_ tell anyone. But yeah, just there, he could tell Shadow was telling the truth. He knew that Sonic was seeing things, experiencing, dreaming about a different life that he had never led.

He stabbed a finger right into Shadow's face, nearly connecting with his nose. "If I let you in, you never bring that up again."

Behind him, he heard Knuckles make a confused, frustrated noise, but Sonic and Shadow both ignored him. "Obviously," Shadow replied, smarmy, confident, as if he knew he had won.

Sonic let his arm fall. "Fine," he declared. "But, you're on probation. One wrong move and Knuckles here—" Sonic hooked a thumb over his shoulder "—gets to punch you into next year, get me?"

Shadow cast a long look at Knuckles, sizing him up, and he nodded. "Fair."

"Good. And remember, we're _not_ friends."

"Oh," Shadow replied, turning to head into the school, "I'll never forget that. See you at lunch, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic watched him go, let out a long breath, and put a hand to his forehead. "Ugh," he groaned, "this week just won't let up."

"And it's only Wednesday," Knuckles put it helpfully.

Sonic groaned again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally caught up to where I am on FFN! You can find the story here if you wanna keep tabs on me: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10088451/1/Introspection


End file.
